Ted Poe bills aim to aid victims of sexual assault before he retires from Congress

WASHINGTON – Before he became a member of Congress in 2005, Texas Republican Ted Poe was known as a felony court prosecutor and then judge in Harris County, where he saw the toll of sexual assault first hand.

"They don't get over it," he said. "Some do cope, but some don't."

Standing alongside five sexual assault survivors from Texas A&M on Capitol Hill Thursday, the congressman from Humble said he wants to build on the momentum of legislation he passed in December that provides sexual abuse training for pediatric forensic nurses.

He's now trying to gather support for long-stalled legislation that would require hospitals— particularly university hospitals – to have sexual assault forensic examiners available to handle victims of rape.

The bill is personal, commemorating an Austin native who committed suicide after a mishandled rape at the University of Alabama.

Poe's bill is named the "Megan Rondini Act," after the Austin woman who took her life one year after she was allegedly raped in 2015 by a man from a wealthy family in Tuscaloosa. Rondini contacted police and went to the hospital after escaping her assailant, but the hospital didn't have a sexual assault forensic examiner and the DNA from her rape kit was never properly examined.

After Rondini committed suicide, her parents filed a lawsuit against the University of Alabama and police for wrongful death. The Texas court judge dismissed the case in January and Rondini's family eventually settled the lawsuit against their daughter's assailant and the University of Alabama in February.

The Texas lawmaker's bill would ensure sexual assault survivors have the necessary evidence to bring a case to court, he said.

"A victim's issue is my issue as a member of Congress," Poe said.

Poe said he's also met sexual assault victims before becoming a member of Congress as a former judge, citing one instance when another woman committed suicide even after her assailant received a maximum prison sentence.

The five sexual assault survivors are part of the 12th Woman – an advocacy group for reformed sexual assault policies. Members of the group spent the day in Washington accounting their experiences with sexual assault, a first for many of the women to publicly speak out since the organization started late last month.

"If University administrators cannot be trusted to provide vital resources to student victims at the most vulnerable points in their lives, what qualifies them to be the gatekeepers of higher education?" said Meghan Romere, a sexual assault survivor and Texas A&M alumna.

Romere said she was assaulted by a member of the university's football team during her junior year of college.

Poe's latest bill follows passage of the SAFER Act in December. That bill, which Poe spearheaded alongside Texas U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, ensures that pediatric nurses are qualified to handle cases of child sex abuse.

Poe, 69, hopes to get the Megan Rondini Act through the House before he retires at the end of this year. But if it doesn't, he'll find other lawmakers to "carry the ball." Poe introduced the bill last year alongside Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y.

The Megan Rondini Act is not the only sexual assault bill Poe is aiming to push forward on a tight deadline. He also plans to introduce the HALT Campus Sexual Violence Act next week – legislation that would allow the Department of Education to penalize Title IX violators.

Sexual assault is most prevalent on college campuses, where one in five women are assaulted each year and one in 16 men are assaulted, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.